Cycling in Coromandel: Day 5, 3rd January 2018: Port Jackson
Wednesday 3rd January, Day 5: Port Jackson – bike to Fletchers Bay to walk the Coastal Walkway to Stony Bay
We woke to a beautiful sunny day at Port Jackson, but also to ominous news about a storm brewing for the next day. After breakfast, we took some time to assess our options for handling the storm. In the glorious sunshine, it was easy to believe that the storm warning might be stronger than the actuality proved to be, and that the storm might pass us by. After checking out other options for routes and transport we decided to sit it out in Port Jackson and hope the storm was not too bad, and didn’t last too long.
We rode over to Fletchers Bay to do the famous Coromandel Coastal Walkway which had been our original reason for travelling to the very north of the Coromandel Peninsula. It’s only 7km from Port Jackson, but it’s some hill in between! The view from the top past Fletchers Bay was stunning - don’t you just love that pointy rock that looks like a hungry chick waiting to be fed.
We were also interested to see how much damage the fire at Fletchers Bay had caused. A young drunkard had directed fireworks straight at the dry grass on New Years Eve. Fortunately, the wind took the fire away from the camp towards the headland, as there were 300 campers that night (would have been us, except for the accident of our wheel trouble). Later on we learnt that the drunkard had run away in his car, leaving his wife and children behind at the campsite. Which was a good thing as there were people who were ready to lynch him. There was enough going on with volunteer fire-fighters arriving from Colville to control the blaze throughout the night and then helicopters with monsoon buckets joining them at first light. The perpetrator was identified and we were told will be charged with arson, and the cost of fighting the fire, and the damage recouped - some $100,000 seems likely.
The Coastal Walkway quickly climbed past the burnt headland and over farmland. Shortly the track entered the bush, where the cool was very welcome. The views of the Coromandel coastline and the nearby islands were stunning, and reminded us a little of Halong Bay in Vietnam because of the steepness of the rocks and the lush vegetation covering them.
With our late start due to exploring options for dealing with the storm, we didn’t have enough time to walk all the way from Fletchers Bay to Stony Bay and back, so we settled for walking to the Lookout Point, which took 2 hours, and returning. On the way back, we explored the wonderful rock formations at Poley Bay.
Riding back over the hill to Port Jackson, gave us a splendid view of the bay at Port Jackson and the wide expanse of sandy beach. Another great Coromandel day.
